


just a whisper away, waiting for me

by MAUELM



Category: Les Misérables (2012), Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Schönberg/Boublil, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cosette And Enjolras Are Siblings, F/M, Families of Choice, Gen, M/M, Modern Era, Multi, basically just a conglomeration of all my hcs, but they don't know it yet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-10-01 20:29:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17250893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MAUELM/pseuds/MAUELM
Summary: Growing up as isolated as she was, Cosette became a daydreamer, imagining up friends that she would one day have- a group of friends who would love her and each other as much as she loved them. She knows that these friends exist somewhere in the world, possibly missing her as much as she was missing them, waiting for her like she had waited for them. Out on her own for the first time when she begins college, Cosette sets out to finally find her people and give them all the love she's been saving up her whole life.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> projecting my personal problems WHOMST???????

When she was a child, alone and unloved in the world, she dreamed up a mother, gentle and warm and loving, her voice soft life distant thunder, who would read her stories and play with her and take her to the park. When she came to live with her father, she got all of that- someone who loved her with all of their heart, who made her happy and filled her days with endless wonder.

When she's eight, Cosette watches High School Musical for the first time. It's like seeing a brand new colour or an imaginary animal; something in her wakes up and there's this sudden, profound longing for a life full of friends, overwhelming and bursting at the seams with different personalities. She's never had a friend her own age- she vaguely remembers knowing another little girl, but doesn't recall any specific details, so blurry that she figures it might as well be a dream- she's only ever had her father and her tutors and instructors, hired and brought to their house by her father to keep her safe and away from the prying eyes of society.

She loves her father more than anything, he brings the sunshine with him wherever he goes. He's her hero. But there's some things he can't give her, no matter how hard he tries. It's not his fault, it's the simple fact that people need socialization, a fact that she taught herself from one of the giant books he keeps around the house.

Over the next few years, Cosette develops a penchant for all things teen media, watching and reading and absorbing all of these lives that she could be living, all of these people she could know. Her daydreams turn to ones of friends, of having people around her all the time. When she thinks of heaven, it appears to her as a cozy night in; a dinner party with her father and all of the friends she's dreamed up, filled with endless stories and rapturous laughter and overwhelming love. There must be other girls her age, girls she can talk to about anything and everything, who can help introduce her to growing into a woman. And boys, too, boys who are friendly and funny and smart like her. Different types of people- closet optimists, goofy and open-hearted joys, passionate and studious workers, a mish-most of mismatched misfits, all emulcified somehow against all odds, coming together to make up an unlikely family. She comes to the conclusion that these people must exist, somewhere,  _somewhere,_ dreaming of the same family that she is, waiting and wishing for her the same way she wishes for them.

The summer before ninth grade. Cosette goes to her father and begs. She begs to be allowed to go to public high school, to get the chance to meet people and have friends and relationships and Valjean is terrified, utterly mortified of letting her go, unattended, unsupervised. Anything could happen to her, and he'd be powerless to stop it. But he sees the hope in her eyes, the want, the need, and realized that, as much as he loves his daughter, he's doing her a great disservice by isolating her. 

He sits her down and tells her the story of her mother- everything, from how she was an employee for him years ago, how he let her be fired and turned out on the street. He leaves out some choice details, but ends with how her mother got very sick, out and alone in the world, and ultimately passed away. He doesn't tell her this to scare her to try and dissuade her from her decision, not in the slightest. He tells her because he's sheltered her as best he can her whole life, try not to let the darkness and bad things touch her, and he wants her to know the truth of the world- that very bad things can happen to very good people, and that's a big part of why he's kept her so close- she's the best thing to ever happen to him, and if any harm ever came to her...

It's a very emotional conversation, that ends with tears and hugs. It's then and there that Cosette decides that she's going to become a lawyer, one who can help people in need- people who have unfairly lost their jobs, people who can't pay their medical bills, people who have been wrongly convicted. In the end, Valjean finds the quietest, smallest high school around, and enrolls her for the fall of her freshman year.

Cosette wakes up bright and early on the first day of school. She dresses and gets ready, eats breakfast with her father, lets him driver her to school. The whole morning, she thinks to herself  _this is it- my people are somewhere in that school. I get to find them now._

Well, it doesn't exactly go that way. She makes a few friends, gets along with a couple of different groups, but never finds  _them,_ the ones who she just clicks with, the ones who truly care, the ones who have the same shade of heart. And all four years go that way. By the midpoint of junior year, Cosette starts to wonder  _what if they're not real? What if they're not out there? Or worse yet, what if they are and they don't want me?_ She figures there must be something wrong with her- she's spent so much time in her own company that she doesn't know how to keep other's.

She gets into her top choice of university- an ideal program, good post-graduation career rates, and close to home. This time, beginning school, she's not as excited so much as scared; scared that she'll be an outcast, an wallflower again. All of her failed attempts at friendships have left her feeling desperately empty, like a candle that's been blown out. But she buckles down and goes anyways, telling herself that there's truly nowhere to go but up.

The first few weeks are a little difficult. She does meet a few people, talks to them before class, but never really makes that  _connection_ that she's desperate for. Part of her is beginning to wonder if that connection really exists at all, or if people are destined to be only half-satisfied for all of their lives. She loves school, loves her classes, loves immersing herself, but still longs for people to share it with.

It's mid-October and she's just getting her bearings when she's handed a flyer, advertising a political meeting at the student cafe-  _'_ Open to anyone who wants to change the world they live in' it reads, and Cosette thinks _hell, that certainly applies to me._

She decides to go.

It's on a Friday night, in a little back room of the cafe that she didn't know existed, and she arrives almost twenty minutes early, getting a seat in the back. She awkwardly fidgets with her notebook, filled with stories and anecdotes of those wronged, those she's here to find new ways to help. A group of kids her age walk in (and, strangely, a boy who can't be more than 12), and when they see her, stop in their tracks. They stare each other down in silence for a few moments before one of them, a boy with scruffy hair and a piano-tile-patterned bowtie, steps forwards, comes and sits beside her. "Howdy!" He exclaims, extending a hand to her. "I'm Courfeyrac. Sorry we stared, it's just we don't see a lot of new faces around here. It's kind of just our little group of friends. Glad you're here!" 

And so she gets to talking to these people, constantly reminding herself  _this is how it happens, you just have to be open to it,_ forcing herself to not close up. They actually begin getting along in no time, and she meets everyone properly, and she notices how they're actually trying, like she is, making genuine efforts to include her in conversation. One of the girls, the one with a gorgeous red-black afro, sits atop one boy's lap while gently caressing another, and she leans over to whisper to Cosette 'what a pretty thing you are, you must have all the boys and girls lining up at your door, eh?', and Courfeyrac nudges the boy next to him, the one with fluffy curls and a tucked in button up and lopsided smile, who goes redder than his own hair when he makes eye contact with her, and she smiles and feels her heart leap a little when he flashes her a shy little grin before averting his gaze.

The meeting is called to order and the man leading it shocks Cosette, because it's like looking in a mirror. They look nearly identical. The man goes on a rant about how his father left his mother when she was pregnant with him, and his mother had to fight tooth and nail for the rights of her and her unborn son. This launches a discussion of the state of healthcare for women, and Cosette is practically dancing to talk, spilling out everything her father had told her about her mother, how she couldn't afford proper healthcare because the system turned it's back on her in part for being a single unwed mother. She rants for what feels like half an hour, detailing the laws put in place to keep women like her mother, like the mother of the leader, from getting the help they deserve, and even with everyone heavily focused on her, she's steady and confident and says everything she needs to say. The leader (Enjolras, he introduces himself) gives her a bright smile and nods his head approvingly after every sentence. The rest of the group agrees with her sentiments, involving her stories in theirs with 'like Cosette said' or 'Cosette is right about'. She glows with pride, feeling like she's doing what she's supposed to.

The meeting concludes, and Cosette feels impossibly alive, on fire with the spark of revolution. She sits back in her chair to gather up her things and slides on her coat when she hears someone above her say her name. She looks up to see that redheaded boy, Marius, looking at her with wide eyes. "Hey, so," he says, with a voice gentler than his friends, "we all were gonna go get something to eat. Maybe... Maybe you'd wanna come with us?" He finishes with a sweet smile, and Cosette can see he's as nervous and shy as she, but simultaneously wonders if he knows how charming it looks on him. She texts her dad that she'll be out a little later and goes with them

They walk to a diner down the street and push together some tables so that all of them, 14 in all, can sit around together. The wait staff look a little annoyed, but like it's nothing they haven't seen before. Cosette sits between Marius and a guy called Grantaire, who has an ear-splittingly loud laugh and paint and ink stains all over his hands, his clothes. They order their drinks and Grantaire nudges Cosette, pointing between Courfeyrac and the guy he's sitting beside, a tall, bespectacled man called Combeferre. "See them?" He says voice lowered so that only she can hear them. "They're definitely screwing on the down-low. But they don't know that we know."

Cosette chokes on a laugh, and Grantaire beams at her like he's just made the joke of the century. Their drink arrive and they order their food. Cosette isn't all that hungry, so Marius offers to split his burger with her, a deal which she gladly accepts. The young boy, Gavroche, bounds over to her and pulls out a novel-  _The Giver._ He says they're reading it in school and he thinks it's just so cool how he starts seeing colours like that, and how he feels like Jonas sometimes because parents aren't always what they seem and he just wants to protect people and stuff, y'know? And Enjolras shushes the whole table so that Gavroche, now seated squarely on Cosette's lap, can read a passage from the book. Everyone listens and nods along, and when Gavroche is finished he hops up off of her lap to give a theatrical bow. Courfeyrac and a brick house of a man named Bahorel stand up to applaud loudly, and the rest of them join suit.

"I like you," Gavroche says to Cosette, "you're a nice lady."

Dinner arrives and they chat as they eat. Marius slices his burger in half and divvies up the fries as evenly as he can, even gives her the tomato off of his half ("I don't really like tomatoes." "Pontmercy, you're a child." "That's rich coming from a man in a piano bowtie."). A medical student named Joly regales them all with tales of his craziest patient encounters, including a middle-aged woman who got physically angry at him for not treating her broken ankle with essential oils. Bahorel and Grantaire partake in an arm wrestling competition that ends with Grantaire's beer spilling somewhat on the table, but mostly on Cosette's shirt.

"Oh, shit!" Grantaire exclaims, "I'm so sorry."

"Nah, it's my fault." Bahorel flexes his biceps. "I kicked 'Taire's ass. His weak ass arms."

Grantaire shoots a glare at Bahorel as he gathers napkins to try and help clean up the mess. 

"Nice work, assholes." Gavroche's Sister, Eponine, scoffs. She grabs the napkins closest to her and hands them over to Marius, so that he can hand them over to Cosette. "You okay, girl?"

"Yeah, totally." Cosette laughs, trying to unstick her shirt from her skin.

Marius pushes his chair back from the table a quickly unbuttons his shirt, revealing a grey t-shirt underneath. He hands her the overshirt. "Here."

"Oh, you don't have to do that." Cosette says, dabbing at her shirt with a napkin.

"Seriously, I don't want you to get cold." He says earnestly, and he's smiling with these dimples that make her heart stutter and she concedes, taking the shirt.

"Thank you." She says quietly, blushing.

"Come on, honey," A sweet person with a long braid, takes her by the arm, helping her up. "Let's go get you cleaned up."

So that's how Cosette ends up in the bathroom with Eponine, Musichetta, and Jehan, wiping off her arms and abdomen with a damp paper towel.

"Brutes, those boys." Musichetta scoffs, then winks to show she's kidding. "Awful nice of Marius to give you his shirt like that."

"Yeah." Cosette smiles. "All of you. All of you are really nice."

Eponine snorts and crosses her arms, leaning against a stall. "That's what  _you_ think. You haven't seen Courf interrupt Enjolras five times during a meeting."

Jehan fakes a shudder.

Cosette laughs and puts on Marius's shirt. It's white with navy blue little birds, and she thinks it looks sort of cute on her. "Thank you guys for helping me."

"Anytime, sweetie!" Jehan takes her by the shoulders. "That's what we're here for."

"Do you think you'll come to the next meeting?" Eponine asks.

"We'd love to have you back." Jehan smiles sweetly.

"Some of us more than others." Musichetta tugs on Marius's shirt with a knowing smirk.

Cosette, blushing something fierce, looks down. "Tonight was so fun. Probably the most fun I've ever had."

Eponine stands stock-straight up, putting on her best 'serious Enjolras' face. "Revolution is not  _fun!_ " She exclaims, mimicking his voice. They all share a laugh.

"I'd love to come back, if you all would have me again." Cosette says.

"I think Enjolras might flay us if we don't make you come back." Eponine scoffs.

"He can't  _flay_ us," Musichetta shoots back, "not in public, anyways. But yes, honey, we'd love it if you came back."

They head back into the diner and re-take their places at the table. Marius sees her in his shirt and chuckles under his breath. "Damn it," he says, "you look better in it than I ever did." He then hides his beet-red face in his hands.

It's pitch dark outside now, and the diner's lights are lowered slightly. Bahorel and Eponine have gathered everyone's remaining fries onto two separate plates, one for each end of the table, to snack on as they talk. It's Cosette's favorite night, the company is dazzling, and the atmosphere is astronomical. They tell endless stories and laugh rapturously and Cosette thinks  _This is heaven._

It's near midnight when they all disperse. Cosette makes for the corner where she asked her father to pick her up when Enjolras stops her with a hand on her shoulder. She whips around, still not used to coming face-to-face with a male replica of herself. "Jehan tells me you're planning on coming to the next meeting."

"I'd love to, if that's okay." Cosette says, fearing he's winding up for the big blow-  _sorry, but I think it's best if you don't come back. You don't really mesh._

Instead, his face cracks into a wide grin. He reaches into his bag and pulls something out, pressing the object into her hand. It's a small, circular pin in shades of blue, white and red. "Awesome!" He says. "We were hoping so. You were really insightful tonight, talking about your mom."

"Thank you." She says, pinning the pin to the strap of her bag. "I had... Well, put simply, this was the best night of my life."

Grantaire comes up behind Enjolras, slinging an arm over his shoulder. "She's in?"

"Yup." Enjolras nods.

"Awesome." Grantaire beams. "Welcome to the Amis, Cosette." Then the pair walk off, hand in hand.

Cosette gets home that night, feeling about ten feet tall. She falls onto her bed and admires the pin. _Les Amis de la ABC_ is written in tiny black print around the edge of the circle. She curiously googles that word- amis. It's what Grantaire welcomed her into. It's what the group had referred to themselves as all night. She translates the word.

_Friends._


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Cosette leaves home, and Marius awkwardly saves the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i got people asking for more of this, so here ya go! this chapter is based on a story a friend told me happened to her, so this one's for you, lexi ;)  
> (also im 99% sure i'll be doing a continuation of this chapter in honey & vanilla so if that's your shit be on the lookout for that)

It's been three months since she met the Amis.

Ten days. She's made it ten days so far. And now this.

Eponine had initially come with the offer- her roommate had never shown up, so she had a vacant space in her dorm. She had tried to convince Gavroche to come stay, but the kid much preferred to stay at Enjolras and Grantaire's apartment, which had a full-sized futon and a real kitchen, so she offered the top bunk and half of the dresser in the dorm to Cosette, who had to think on it for a few days and have a long conversation with her father before reluctantly accepting. The dorms aren't far from her father's townhouse, a half-hour walk at most, and they still call each other every day, so even though they're both scared to be without each other, it's really not as bad as all that.

It's Friday night.Its six PM when she leaves, taking the train to go downtown to pick up a few makeup items she's missing. Eponine is out with Grantaire and Jehan at some poetry-music festival just outside of town, and so she takes the opportunity to go out, see the city and not worry about coming home a little later and waking Eponine (though, truth be told, nobody could wake Eponine if they tried- her sleep rivaled only that of the dead).

She picks up what she needs from Sephora and exits back onto the street, only to find that the train station has all but dissapeared. As in, literally not where she left it. She swears that it was just up a block and on the corner, but it's not there or on any other block corner. maybe she went the wrong way? She turns around and heads for the opposite street corner, but it's not there either. But the streets are numbered, she presumes she can't really be  _that_ far away- the train ride took less than ten minutes, after all- and so she starts walking, following the street's ascending numbers.

She get's to the number that's supposed to be her street, but it's not- nothing looks familiar, it's much darker and more isolated here. She's suddenly terrified. She tries google maps, but that's about as reliable as throwing leaves into the wind to tell you which direction to go, so she keeps walking, certain that if she keeps going, at some point, she'll have to find her way back to the dorm.

That doesn't happen.

It's nearing ten PM, and she's hopelessly lost. She has no idea where she is, she's freezing (early December winds are not kind at night), and terrified- more than a couple of men have approached her, tried to talk to her, one walked by her side, trying to have a conversation with her for nearly two blocks. She ignored him, like she had been taught, and he spat at her feet and called her a whore before departing. She could call her father, but she doesn't. Not because she has a pride complex, not because she doesn't think he'll help, or that he'll be angry with her (though she can still hear a rough voice deep in her memory scolding her for the most basic of mistakes; _stupid girl, why would you do something so fucking foolish_ ), but because she desperately wants to be able to do something for herself, to not have to call her father for everything. But she needs _someone._ She slumps against the wall of a building, out of the way of passers-by and pulls out her phone, quickly plucking her most-used contact after her father. He picks up after the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Marius?" She asks, her voice tight, trying not to cry. "Did I wake you up?"

"Of course not," he says, and she can hear the smile in his voice, "what's up?"

Marius is a native of this city, he knows it in and out, and so she knows he'll be able to tell her where to go, how to get home. "I'm lost," She says, and despite her best efforts her tears begin to fall, because she's exhausted, terrified, lost, alone, cold, and the sound of Marius's voice puts her at ease and it's such a relief to hear. "I'm very, very lost. And it's late and I'm getting scared. Can you- can you just tell me where I am and how to get back to the dorms?" She's crying in earnest now, all she wants is to lay down, nice and warm in her bed.

"Hey," his voice softens considerably. "It's okay, okay? Where are you? Tell me the cross-streets."

"Uh, Forty-First and Church." She says. 

Marius thinks for a moment before responding. "Okay, stay right where you are, okay? I'm gonna come get you."

"Oh, no, you don't have to come out, if you would just tell-"

"Cosette, I'm on my way."

So she waits against the wall, not long, as Marius knows how to get to where she is from where he was like the back of his hand. He calls her name and she runs to him, not even meaning to, tossing her arms around his neck and crying into his shoulder, not even caring who sees-he came and found her, her favorite person, and he's here and warm and smells good and she's just so fucking  _relieved._

"Whoa, hey, it's okay." Marius mutters into her hair, hesitating a moment before embracing her with his full strength.

"Sorry." She sniffles between sobs, "I don't mean to be such a baby."

"You're not." Marius says, his tone tender and sweet. "It's okay. Shh, I've got you. I'm right here."

They stand on the corner and he lets her cry, whispering soft encouragements to her as she does. Soon, her feeling of patheticness fades away and she's left feeling comforted and safe.

She pulls away a little once she's calmed down, and Marius uses a gloved hand to wipe her tears off of her cheeks, her jaw, even running a finger under her nose, which she thinks is kind of gross, but more sweet. "Are you okay?" He asks with a small, suppressed smile, his cheeks and nose flaming red.

Cosette nods. "Yeah. Thanks." She squeezes his shoulder. "I... Appreciate you." She says, but she wants to say so, so much more.

"I appreciate you, too." Marius shrugs out of his jacket and puts it around her shoulders, then wraps his scarf around her neck. "You looked kind of cold." He shrugs sheepishly. He, like her, is delicate in intimate situations like this, but somehow they cancel each other's awkwardness out and are left with a grand sum of fluttering heartbeats, scarlet cheeks, and warm smiles.

"I was." Cosette smiles, snuggling into the clothes. Marius laughs a little and grabs her hand, tucking it into the crook of his elbow and leading her down the street. 

They don't say much on the way back to the dorm, just kind of lean into each other and laugh at nothing. It's very cute and sweet and Cosette thinks she should be anxious or nervous, but she's not. She's just comfortable.

They get back to her dorm as Marius is telling a story about how his grandfather made him take ballroom dancing classes as a kid, and he fell flat on his face in front of two dozen 10-13 year-olds when he was walking over to ask a girl he liked to dance.

"Oh my god, that's hilarious." Cosette giggles shrugging off his jacket and scarf, even though she doesn't want to. "Luckily I've never danced with anyone, so I have no awkward encounters to be spoken of."

Marius stops, eyebrow quirked. "You've never danced with anyone?" He asks, bemused.

"No," Cosette shakes her head, not admitting that she's fantasized about it since she first watched The Little Mermaid in childhood.

Marius fumbles for his phone in his back pocket and quickly, almost panicked, begins searching for something. A few moments later, a slow, jazzy tune begins to play, paced and breezy. He holds out his hands, a nervous, lopsided smile on his blushing face. "Wanna?"

Cosette takes a deep, quiet breath and nods, taking his hand and stepping closer to him. He lifts her hand over her head in a turn, then tentatively places his opposite hand on her waist. He shrugs his shoulders a little, almost as if he's trying to settle into his own body. She rests the hand that's not holding his on his shoulder, and there's a few inches between then as they swayed slowly back and forth. 

"I love dancing." Marius hums, his voice nearly trembling. "I... Like being close to the person I'm dancing with."

Cosette has to stop herself from laughing at how cute he is- he's so shy he can barely look at her face, and she's grinning like an idiot- and she takes two minuscule steps towards him, so that they're pressed together. "I like being close to you."

He scoffs, not mean or teasing but disbelieving, and moves their joined hands so that her hand is resting on his chest, his hand covering hers. She curls her fingers around his and squeezes, and her pulls her closer by the small of her back, seemingly feeling more and more comfortable with the way he's charming her. She rests her head on his shoulder and feels his lips against her ear as he whispers the lyrics to her.

The dorm itself is tiny and they're forced to push even closer to each other as they turn between the desk and the bed. Cosette can feel his heartbeat through his shirt, speeding up every time she moves against him then slowing just as instantly, as if she both excites and calms him at the same time.

The song is drawing to a close, and she assumes that this is the end of whatever this is, because they're both a little overstimulated from excitement and butterflies to do anything else, but as she pulls away her cheek brushes his and her breath catches- it's so soft, he always keeps himself freshly shaved, and she can smell his soap on his skin and she just wants to stay there forever. However, he moves his face just a little more, tilted just a little downwards, and their noses are now touching, eyelashes brushing against each other's.

"Can I kiss you?" Marius asks, so quietly she wonders if he intends for her to hear at all, and he's got this sweet little smile that reminds her of every cheesy teen romance movie she's ever watched.

"Yes, please." She responds, equally as quiet, as if anything louder would shatter the moment and bring them back to a different reality, a reality where none of this magic is happening.

He smiles more, closes his eyes and moves his lips towards her, painfully, agonizingly slowly, and Cosette nearly jumps out of her skin when he hesitates just a moment more before pressing his lips to hers, gently, the barest of pressure, and she can feel the imprint of his smile. Her heart is pounding and it takes everything in her to not collapse. He takes his hand off of hers and places it between her shoulderblades, fingertips gently stroking the bottom of the nape of her neck, and she uses her now-free hand to cup his cheek, running her thumb just under his eye. He opens his lips just a tiny bit and closes them over hers again, and it's a little more slippery, a little hotter, and he groans high under his breath and she sighs into it, feeling him everywhere.

He pulls back and the kiss ends with a satisfying 'snap' sound. He's breathless as he chuckles out, "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that."

"Oh my god, Marius." Is quite literally all she can say.

Marius bumps her nose with his, looking upon her with the most beautiful quiet sort of reverence, like she herself hung the moon and the sun and all the stars in the sky. "Do you.. Wanna be my girlfriend?" And he sounds so excited that she actually laughs in earnest, taking his face in both her hands. They're still very, very close together, so looking him in the eyes makes her go a little cross-eyed, but she does her best.

"I would like that very much." She confirms.

He wraps his arms all the way around her and presses a long, hard kiss to her forehead. "I love you." He says. Then freezes. "Oh. God. I'm so sorry. That's so weird, I only just asked you to be my girlfriend, and you didn't know how I felt about you until right now, oh god, I'm-"

"Marius, It's okay." She laughs, her heart bursting. "I love you too." And she really, really does.

"You love me?"

"I do."

Marius kisses her again, with more confidence, more chutzpa, and raises one balled fist in the air.

"BEST! DAY! EVER!" He exclaims.

"Shh!" Cosette hushes, "the walls are thin."

"Oh. Right." Marius quiets, lowering his fist to just beside his face, whispering as lowly as possible,  _"best! day! ever!"_


End file.
